1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a locking device or construction for connectors and to a use thereof for a charging connector used for charging and/or for a high-voltage cable connector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An electric vehicle includes a vehicle-side connector secured to the vehicle body and connected with a battery mounted on the vehicle. The battery is charged or recharged with a charger. More particularly, a charger-side connector is connected with the charger via a flexible cable. Charging is performed with the charger-side connector engaged with the vehicle-side connector. In such a case, it is necessary to provide a locking means for locking the connectors so as to prevent the charger-side connector from disengaging from the vehicle-side connector during charging.
A locking mechanism that has been used in a wiring harness includes a mechanism for lockingly engaging an elastically deformable resin lance or engaging member formed in the connector with an engaging portion formed in a mating connector.
A wiring harness type of locking mechanism with a resin engaging member is not well suited for use in a charging connector for the following reason. When the charger-side connector is engaged with the vehicle-side connector, the locking mechanism bears the weight of the charger-side connector and the weight of wires extending from the charger-side connector. Since the wires used for charging are thicker and heavier than those used for the wiring harness, the locking mechanism adopting the resin engaging member cannot sufficiently bear the weight of the wires for charging.
The present invention was developed to avoid the above problem, and an object thereof is to securely lock connectors, in particular used for charging.